Market adoption of wireless LAN (WLAN) technology has exploded, as users from a wide range of backgrounds and vertical industries have brought this technology into their homes, offices, and increasingly into the public air space. This inflection point has highlighted not only the limitations of earlier-generation systems, but also the changing role that WLAN technology now plays in people's work and lifestyles, across the globe. Indeed, WLANs are rapidly changing from convenience networks to business-critical networks. Increasingly users are depending on WLANs to improve the timeliness and productivity of their communications and applications, and in doing so, require greater visibility, security, management, and performance from their network.
Wireless clients may often roam among several wireless access points during a session (such as a VoIP over WLAN session). To minimize service disruptions during roam events, roaming standards such as IEEE 802.11k and 802.11r are being defined. 802.11r, for example, refines the transition process of a wireless client as it roams from one wireless access point to another. The protocol allows a wireless client to pre-establish a security and quality of service (QoS) state at a new wireless access point before making a transition, which minimizes connectivity loss and network application disruption.
As a wireless client roams, the wireless client may attempt to reserve or “pre-allocate” resources (e.g., security and QoS resources) of one or more wireless access points in the wireless network. Pre-allocating resources optimizes transitions as receiving wireless access points already have resources reserved or pre-allocated for the wireless client before arrival. Roaming standards such as IEEE 802.11k and 802.11r allow for a wireless client to acquire information about network capabilities through radio measurements, potential roaming neighboring basic service set identifiers (BSSIDs), and ultimately the pre-allocation of required services. While mechanisms for pre-allocating resources such as security and QoS resources are being defined, there are no specific means for managing such pre-allocation mechanisms and their impact on the network infrastructure. For example, pre-allocation essentially commits resources of a wireless access point that would otherwise be available to other wireless clients. As the number of wireless clients and load on the WLAN increases, available resources can be quickly depleted.
In light of the foregoing, a need in the art exists for methods, apparatuses, and systems that address the foregoing problems and facilitate roaming and pre-allocation policy enforcement in a wireless environment. Embodiments of the present invention substantially fulfill this need.